Bachelor’s Grove Cemetery

There is no such thing as ghosts. But maybe there is! (There isn’t.) Chicago’s cemeteries, from Graceland to Acacia, are almost across-the-board beautiful and often enchanting, but Bachelor’s Grove, located south near Midlothian, is considered one of the most haunted cemeteries in the country, with a vast history of apparition sightings and ghostly photography. It’s rumored that Al Capone and his henchman used the cemetery’s adjacent pond to dispose of some of the clan’s dirty work, and the graves herein date back to the 1840s. Just don’t try to sneak in late at night, as you might be apprehended by the police for trespassing, have to return to Midlothian for a court date and be embarrassed in front of a judge for getting caught while “ghost-hunting.” Just sayin’.

143^rd and Ridgeland Avenue
bachelorsgrove.com

Audience choice:
Graceland
4001 North Clark
(773)525-1105

Best of Chicago 2009

Schoop’s

While the Rosebud burger is undeniably king of the balanced monster-thick steakhouse burgers, it’s also as boring as your grandfather’s mid-eighties model Buick. We prefer the lacey crunchy edged griddle-smashed patties, pillowy bun and mayo and ketchup waterfall dripping from this Indiana budget burger.

1449 Indianapolis Blvd, Whiting, Indiana
(219)659-7030
schoophamburgers.com

Audience choice:
Kuma’s Corner
2900 West Belmont
(773)604-8769
kumascorner.com

Best of Chicago 2009

WNUR-FM, 89.3
The nation’s largest student-run radio station is also the city’s most respected, not only for its continual rock-solid programming but also its star-studded alumni, which includes members of Arcade Fire, Steve Albini, Derrick Carter and Ira Glass. In 2003 Spin magazine named the Northwestern University station as the top college station in the US, and the weekday “Rock Show,” which runs from 2pm-9:30pm, regularly offers the best of indie underground music traditionally ignored by the likes of, well, JACK FM.

Audience choice:
WNUR, Northwestern

Audience Comment: “89.3fm—one of the only stations on the dial that plays a healthy amount of electronic music, much needed in this indie-rock-centric town.”

Best of Chicago 2008

Crossroads Trading Co.

We all love recycling. But why limit yourself to cans and boxes with the intangible reward of saving the planet? Get greedy and expect more. Recycle your used clothing at Crossroads Trading Co. and get some solid cash in addition to your pride. Fashionistas can even consider payback in store credit.

2711 N. Clark, (773)296-1000
1519 N Milwaukee, (773)227-5300;
1730 Sherman, Evanston, (847)492-9400
crossroadstrading.com

Gahlberg Gallery at the College of DuPage

The last time we ran this category, the University of Chicago’s Renaissance Society took top prize, and their all-star international program continues to charm Chicago. But in the past few years, the Gahlberg Gallery at the College of DuPage—just head directly west for about an hour—under the tutelage of curator Barbara Wiesen, has been cultivating local voices with verve. A recent retrospective by local legend Michael Piazza and provocative installations by emerging artists rounded out the program this year.

Fawell and Park boulevards
425 Fawell, Glen Ellyn
(630)942-2321
cod.edu/gallery/

Best of Chicago 2008

Spindle

David Bermant’s 1989 stack of cars on a giant pin in the suburb of Berwyn is an icon of our inability to part with the junk of a bygone era—here, boxy towncars and sedans that don’t quite seem antique yet. The Spindle’s imminent removal from its site, a parking lot, to make room for some new box-shaped super-store has enraged the local community of amateur newspaper collectors and self-storage junkies. The Spindle’s owner has agreed to move the work (off his property) and the artist will be on hand for restoration.

Cermak and Route 43, Berwyn

(dismantled in May 2008)

Best of Chicago 2007

Otis Wilson
… and that’s not a bad thing. We have the greatest reverence for the Bears of Ditka and Buddy, the marauding, run-stopping, woofing butchers who trampled and emasculated everything in their path to the Super Bowl. There has never been a more powerful group of men or women assembled for a common purpose, excluding perhaps the Superfriends. Their majesty, their achievement, their stone-cold best-ever status, was so ridiculously complete that few of them have escaped the tether of their ’85 Beardom. Otis Wilson remains a Bear-for-hire, a link to the ineffable greatness of ’85, a walking, talking, smiling, hand-pumping ambassador from the best year of our lives. Need to open a local mall or a car dealership? Otis. Need one more celebrity to complete a foursome at a suburban pro-am? Otis. Need a motivational speech at your football camp in Mundelein? Oh yeah—Otis. He’s everywhere, reminding us of our glorious past and lending the fading light of his star to your company outing. Once a feared linebacker who eviscerated quarterbacks and mastered post-sack celebration, Otis has become the area’s greatest Otis Wilson impersonator… again, not a bad thing.

The Otis Wilson Foundation
3616 West 125th Street, Alsip

Best of Chicago 2002

Fox & Obel
When this gourmet grocer opened last year, food lovers rejoiced over its glorious offerings of quality meats, fresh breads, and gourmet everything. But its cheese department is its epicenter. With more than 300 varieties, including an unsurpassed offering of artisanal cheeses from around the globe, Fox & Obel puts new meaning into the word cheesemonger.

401 East Illinois (312)410-7301

Audience choice: Whole Foods
30 West Huron, (312)932-9600
3640 North Halsted, (773)472-0400
3300 North Ashland, (773)244-4200
1550 North Kingsbury, (312)587-0648)
1101 South Canal, (312)435-4600
1640 Chicago Avenue, Evanston, (847)733-1600

Best of Chicago 2002

Chicago Botanic Gardens
It’s a twenty-five-mile haul north of the Loop, but the gardens’ pastoral beauty quickly erases memories of the concrete and combustion endured en route. With twenty-three gardens to delight the senses, ranging from the sculpted beauty of the Japanese Garden to the perfumed wonder of the Rose Garden, Chicago Botanic Gardens is a horticultural delight, no matter how serious or casual your interest in the world of plants. Symmetries, colors and textures create a natural gallery of life; and well-maintained trails and captivating fowl-play in the ponds offer stimulation for the power hiker and meanderer as well.

1000 Lake Cook Road, Glencoe (847)835-5440

Best of Chicago 2002

Cart escalators
So you’ve got a car, perhaps begged from friends, or better yet, you’ve simply rented a truck for that nearly thirty-mile trip out to that mecca of low-cost, do-it-yourself Swedish décor. Inside the door of the garishly blue and yellow confines of IKEA you get your map, a pencil and a handy paper ruler and then it’s up to the second floor for knickknacks and such. But once you’ve picked up assorted Ribba frames, the Pugg wall clock, a Lamplig lamp, a couple of Forby footstools and a handful of Granat cushions, how on earth do you keep your stuff, and still make it up the escalator to the third floor to look for the right Billy bookcase—much less make it downstairs to the cash registers so you can get back outside? Never fear, the IKEA monolith boasts a modern shopping marvel-the cart escalator. Pick up your nice plastic cart on any floor, cram it full, and head for the escalator. Right next to your ride, your cart gets a trip through some lovely plastic doors where little moving spokes latch on to the wheels. The nice, open-air feel allows you (and excited passersby) to watch your stuff go up or down a floor, with nary a break in stride. Now that’s what we call progress.

1800 East McConnor Parkway, Schaumburg (847)969-9700

Audience choice: Cheapness
$1.00 Soft Serve Chocolate/Vanilla Swirl Ice Cream Cones. The only thing that gets me through the store is looking forward to that at the end. Meatballs. They give you nine.
Everything! Everything! Everything!
What is IKEA?